WHO expert advisory committee on developing global standards for governance and oversight of human genome editing: report of the sixth meeting

Background

The World Health Organization (WHO) has established a global, multi-disciplinary  expert panel to examine the scientific, ethical, social and legal challenges associated with  human genome editing (both somatic and germline). The Committee includes members  from Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Oceania, North America and South  America.

The Committee has been tasked to advise and make recommendations on appropriate institutional, national, regional and global governance mechanisms for human genome  editing. During the course of its work, the Committee will review literature on current human  genome editing research and its applications, consider existing proposals for governance and  relevant ongoing initiatives, as well as solicit information about societal attitudes towards the  different uses of this technology. The Committee will explore how best to promote  transparent and trustworthy practices and how to ensure appropriate assessments are  performed prior to any relevant work being undertaken.

Work of the previous meeting

The fifth meeting of the Committee was held remotely from 23 to 24 November 2020. Each day addressed a separate topic. On the first day, the Committee focused on the governance framework – reviewing progress to date, discussing the underpinning values and principles and the scenarios to illustrate its use in practice, and agreeing on a future workplan. On the second day, the Committee focused on its final report and associated recommendations – agreeing on an approach, identifying a series of areas in which it planned to make recommendations, and discussing potential findings on two issues: the reporting of unregistered, unethical or illegal research and development activities; and international arrangements to support governance and oversight of human genome editing. The Committee agreed that the governance framework scenarios would be further developed prior to its next meeting with input from individuals who had assisted its work by participating in its meetings and webinars.

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Health Ethics & Governance